England opener Crawley has indicated he had no knowledge of statements from captain Ben Stokes regarding the dressing room as no place for "weak men".
The all-rounder made those words in several interviews in the wake of his team's loss in the second Ashes versus the Australians earlier this month.
In the lead-up to the Adelaide Test, where the visitors are staring at a series loss at the earliest opportunity, the captain stated he had let his message to "drift around" among the playing group.
"I have completed all the talking in recent days that I required," said the England leader.
But, after Crawley scored a knock of 85 on the fourth day in Adelaide, he stated: "I missed those remarks."
"I wasn't actively searching for it. We take anything stated in the press with some skepticism," Crawley continued.
Raw Conversations and Consistent Messaging
Stokes issued his "weak men" comment subsequent to his side suffered a loss in the second Test to fall two matches behind.
The England squad afterwards went on a break to a Queensland resort in the gap between the second and third matches.
Before this match, he said his team had held "raw" talks and he had urged them to "display some fight" in their effort to remain alive in the Ashes battle.
Nevertheless, the Kent batsman asserted the messaging from the captain and head coach Brendon McCullum had stayed consistent with their previous three years in leadership.
"The atmosphere has been extremely upbeat, the same as always," said the opener. "It's on maintaining positivity, playing our brand, with great liberty. We believed we could do something special going into this Test."
The Hosts On the Verge of Historic Series Victory
Crawley's dismissal late on Saturday came during a crucial triple-strike by Australian off-spinner Lyon.
Lyon's three wickets in 20 deliveries – including the wickets of Brook and Stokes himself – left England 207-6 in pursuit of a daunting target of 435 runs.
Consequently, the home team need just four more wickets on Sunday's final day to secure an insurmountable three-nil advantage with three matches played.
Defeat will extend England's drought in Australia to 18 consecutive matches and condemn them to a fourth straight away Ashes defeat.
The current battle is set to be decided in only 11 days of play – with England losing the initial matches in two and four days respectively.
The last time 1921, when the Australians sealed victory in the UK in eight days, has the outcome of the urn been decided so quickly. The hosts have also triumphed in 11 days on two other occasions in the 21st century.
"This is disappointing," said the batsman. "Our goal was to win the Ashes and now we are facing elimination now."
"There remains plenty to play for and we'll certainly approach it with that mindset," he continued.
"It's been tough. Australia is a very, very good team. It was inevitably hard touring here against them. They entered as the favourites and they've proven why."
Pope's Place In Question
While the opener's performance in the third Test probably answers questions about his short-term future in the England team, Ollie Pope looks under immense pressure for his spot in the fourth Test on Boxing Day.
The Surrey batsman fell for 17 in England's second innings on day four, adding to his poor record against Australia.
In 16 Ashes innings, the Surrey man has never made a fifty and boasts an average of 17.62.
A solitary other English batsman since 1900 – Dennis Amiss – has featured an equal number of innings in the top order in the Ashes and returned a poorer average.
But, Crawley said any notion his teammate is under the microscope originates with "you guys" – meaning the press – "and not within the team."
"The squad is fully aware how good of a player he is," added Crawley. "He has had a good year to be frank."
"He has played some really good knocks. This is noise from the outside. There's no discussion like that regarding Pope in the camp," Crawley concluded.
